Neo Sonic Universe Download

Reviews

Anonymous

As a player of limited experience of classic Sonic and one who thrives on internet freebies, this was a delight. I wanted to get into 2D Sonic and didn't want to pay for it, and this fit both of those bills. Also, the file size isn't too daunting, and the manual comes with the game, which is even better.

The first thing I noticed about the game was the inclusion of post-Sonic Adventure character desigins and characters (such as Shadow and Tikal). This might not mean much, but in the battle of Old Sonic v. New Sonic, it takes the best of both worlds; the gameplay of the older games with the more refined characters and stories of the newer ones.

However, it's not quite as simple as that. The gameplay isn't an exact clone of the original, and it lacks a few of the elements that made the old games such a hit: the gravity defying loops and out of control high speed sequences, for one thing. Water was also absent here, and the spin dash was a disappointing tumble rather than a charge towards the road ahead. The wall kicking ability that Sonic has was a novel idea, although clearly fabricated as a means of allowing him to move vertically.

The first time round is definetely the hardest, all the levels are unknown to you, and Sonic's abilities are pathetic compared to later characters. However, the game gets significantly easier as soon as Tails is unlocked. The flying ability makes long gaps and spike pits a mere crack in the pavement to hop over, and drastically cuts your level times. The only problem with Tails is that once you start flying, he can't attack, not even by landing on top of enemies.

The game gets easier again with Knuckles, who is invulnerable to enemies while gliding, and wall-climbing doesn't tire him like flying does to Tails, so he has no limit on how high he can go. Amy was something of a disappointment, the hammer being a poor substitute for no added mobility abilities. The problem is such to the point the parts of levels have to be opened up just for her. Shadow suffers from the same predicament, although his Chaos emerald makes for a handy pocket rocket launcher. None of this jumping around trying to land on the heads of bosses, just shoot a few blasts of pure Chaos at them!

Unfortunately, the game suffers from a few show-stopping glitches. The most common of these is when your character will inexplicably stick to a wall and is limited to vertical movement until they take a hit or run out of wall. This is easily solved with Sonic, as he can just kick off the wall, and sometimes Tails can fly upwards until he runs out of wall, but when the other characters latch on to the wall, the game has to be restarted, losing any progress in the level.
Another (not so much a glitch as an annoyance) is the spike pits. Many a time, when playing as Sonic, will you fall into a large pit of spikes with no way out and you then have to watch poor Sonic lose his rings, frantically try to grab as many as he can, and eventually die. And as for the bonus stages, it's frustrating when you get the hang of them near the end of the game, and can't go back to try and collect all of the chaos emeralds.

Overall, when its glitches are avoided and when you don't expect to be classic Sonic reincarnate, it's an excellent game. More skill than speed, but an excellent game nontheless.

Gradient

This is a game of two halves and it's ironic that the most enjoyable game in this package is the one that is most unlike a Sonic game. Battle mode is well made and should keep you amused for a good while; fair praise to the creator for trying something different. Your opponent reacts intelligently and any bout can be saved by quick thinking and fast reflexes; exactly what a fighting game should be. In its own way, this makes a very competent alternative to Sega's very own Sonic Battle.

It's a shame then, that the platform game, the star of the show, doesn't come up to the same standards. The characters have only the most basic sprites and animations and as with too many fan games there is a workman-like feel to the proceedings; you follow the path that is set with no chance to experiment and explore. There's something nice about the simplicity of it all but the overall quality just doesn't come close to the battle mode.

Play this for the battle mode but not the platforming and you won't be disappointed. Treat the main game as an extra and you should find this very satisfying.

Morfs

'This game is awesome' is what I would have said if the game didn't have this MANY problems:

1. I know Sonic is fast but he is too fast for me to control.

2. Why the heck did you put in a pit of spikes! There should have been a way to get out!

3. The boss in Coconut Paradice is too hard - I only got to this part so far because he doesn't have a pattern of attack. It is a random menace and he automatically kills me even when i have rings!

4. The enemies are too high up to reach some points and there is no way AT ALL to pass them.

5. Sonic jumps too low - I can't reach the higher enemies.

6. I am impatient sometimes and when games don't skip places. I am ok with the intro movie but I can't stand the parts before!

7. I need to have a control bar to change the keys and figure out how to do things!

Otherwise the game is great but needs just a bit more effort.

The battle mode is ok.

Joshuanovi

Okay. Here goes nothing! When I was 6, (well, about six anyways )
Dad downloaded a game called Neo Sonic Universe. I was exited, because it had a battle mode, AND it has a Portuguese version of the game. Why not French, Chinese, or Spanish? Well, that's a long story. What I can tell you, is that I come from a long Brazilian family line. Anyways, graphics are great, love the battle mode, cool special effects, awesome sound. There. I heard someone was complaining, I have the answer. Don't jump on the boss (even if you have rings!), unless it's a jump from the trampoline, and don't jump on 'im if he has coconut-bombs. And if you get stuck to the wall, just press ctrl, that should get you out of the prob'. :) Although, I do agree with you about the spikes. There ANNOYING, aren't they? Well, had a good time. By the way, when I was 11, I beat It. :D

Super Sonic

This game is okay except for a few things:

There are many glitches like getting stuck on walls and not being able to move. Another is that this game is fairly hard with Sonic, Shadow and Amy. Tails is as easy as pie! All you do is fly up, hit a few switches and fight the boss. With Sonic, Amy, and Shadow there is more strategy involved, you have to be smart too.

Knuckles is a perfect difficulty because you cant really fly but you can glide and climb, making this game a little bit easier with Knuckles, but you can not just fly through as you could with Tails.

If you are able to deal with a few glitches this is a good game to download.

Wierdbeard

Neo Sonic Universe is a brilliant clone of Sonic the Hedgehog. I challenge you to tell me the original is better. This is really good!

Neo Sonic Universe features two playing modes. Normal mode, where you play through the different levels, defeat bosses and so on. You can play as Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Shadow or Amy.

Battle Mode enables you to fight against other characters, in other words it's a 2D fighting game.

This game doesn't disappoint, boasting graphics so true to the original you won't know what's going on anymore!

Very nice!

FantaC

Pros:

- Liked the use of the classic Sonic CD music.
- Graphics are relatively good.
- The battle mode is a great idea, I think it was the best part of the game, and its something I have never seen in Sonic before.

Cons:
- Level designs are hectic and take forever to get through. A lot of work is needed to get through one level, which can be painful for a lot of players.
- The ring scatter effect throws sonic way too far, and is harder to recover rings than in the classic game.